Abstract

Many organizational science theorists have drawn upon pragmatism in developing theories of learning organizations. However, these theorists have overlooked two important aspects of the pragmatic view of learning: continuity and the philosophy of love underlying this continuity. The present essay seeks to elaborate on these overlooked aspects in order to advance a pragmatic view of learning organizations. Drawing upon this elaboration, the essay suggests that a pragmatic view of learning organizations is advanced by a community of individuals united by common goods, such as shared values or ideals. Such goods provide individuals with a grounding for a unified view of the self in their pursuit of satisfying an endless desire for self-growth, which eros represents, and for an affective union with others, or philía, which intermediates the growth of eros into agape so as to enable the pragmatic view of continuity in learning.

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